Tuesday, May 03, 2011

Aint Too Proud

When I heard the news about bin Laden's death, my instinctive reaction wasn’t much of one. “Isn't he more powerful as an idea?” I thought. It’s not like George Washington's death marked the end of America.

Or – what I find much more troubling – American nationalism. This badge we proudly emblazon across our collective chest to suggest unity, and/or if we were more honest, the belief we're inherently better than any other land mass. Listening to NPR the morning after the announcement, meant hearing plenty of alcohol soaked pride as Ground Zero celebrators waxed bromidic about their country’s “achievement.”

Frat boy, please. Your pride runs about as deep as the party's supply of Budweiser.

The soberest (pun intended) words I heard were from an ex-pat German, warning against the nationalism he witnessed. Apropos, because what nationality better to warn us of nationalism's absurdities. Its randomness And its dangers. But observing our fellow country people the past few days, its almost like WWII never happened.

There’s more than one event we should “never forget,” you know.

I'm not going to pretend to be an expert on foreign policy or the War on Terror, so I'll stop here an let this TruthDig articlespeak with far greater authority and articulation.

Obviously, I’m not a nationalist. Unlike many may be quick to accuse, I’m not anti-American either. I care about as much about America as I do every other arbitrarily drawn land mass. I wish them all the best, and that’s about as deep as my Rabbit hole goes. I'm not ignorant to the freedom's grated to me by America, I just believe they only make me luckier than others. Not "better." I'm not defending bin Laden. Nor am I suggesting he didn't deserve to die for killing thousands of people. But like nationalism, justice is just an idea. One rife with potential danger. One that becomes far less immediate if retaliation affects our physical world.

I was living in Egypt at the time it happened and Egyptian's were just a bit 'meh' about it all. When I turned on US media and all the people crying and parading around under the badge of nationalism I was scared silly.... I didn't agree with what he did but the reaction just was not cool!